God our Refuge

Scripture: 1 Samuel 19, 1 Chronicles 7, Psalm 59, Matthew 4
1 Samuel 19:23-24 As he was going there, the Spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel’s presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?”)

Observation/application
I laughed out loud when I read this story this morning.
When Saul tried to capture and murder David, David escaped to Samuel in Ramah, where Samuel led a school of prophets. Saul sent men to arrest him, but God’s Spirit came upon the men and they were swept up in the ecstasy of the prophets. Saul sent a second group with the same results and then a third. Finally, Saul decided to go himself to arrest David, only to have God’s Spirit come upon him too. He is swept up in the ecstasy of the prophets and lay naked for a day!
Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?
God protected David naturally (his wife Michel helped him escape using deception) and supernaturally (here). In this story, what stood between Samuel and David and murderous king Saul? Only the Spirit of God. And that was enough.
Think of Daniel in the lion’s den. What stood between Daniel and sure death? Only the Spirit of God. And that was enough.
In Psalm 59, David prays for safety after Saul sends men to capture and kill him (this psalm was written after the experiences of 1 Samuel 19). He writes: “But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God.”
Saul was king and had the power—but God was still the Sovereign One. God laughed at Saul—He mocked Saul by turning his attempted arrest and murder of David into naked (and humiliating) spiritual ecstasy.
God was David’s refuge. And He is ours as well.

Prayer: God, you are my refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, I will not fear. (Psalm 46:1-2)